Nine years passed in a blink, and Alex reached 14.
At the training ground, a lone figure with a bare naked top wore a personally tailored pair of shorts that barely reached his knees, allowing easy movement.
The lone figure was none other than Alex Drakethorne, heir to the Drakethorne house. He swung his sword, body drenched in sweat, long black hair with blue-tinted ends slicked back in a ponytail to his neck, tied using a ribbon. Sweat fell to the ground, soaking it as if water had been poured.
Alex's azure eyes were focused on his sword as he vertically swung his sword down, repeating this movement with such diligence that it left maids and servants who frequented the training ground to provide him with water and other needed things, wondering how he was able to do it for such a long time. The sun has already reached the zenith, making its shadow small and circular around its feet.
He had swung it more than 1000 times already, had taken 100 laps around the ground, had done some stretching, and had followed a basic exercise routine.
He hadn't eaten anything since morning, aside from drinking water; his chest muscles were visible, a robust, thin build packed with muscle, with little to no fat whatsoever.
Just as he was about to swing again, a small, timid voice made him stop. He turned toward the ground's entrance. A little girl, half Alex's height, stood with her hands on her waist, pouting. Her round black eyes and flowing blue hair stood out. She said, "Big Brother, how long are you going to train? Come and eat with us, or I won't eat without you."
Alex placed his training sword against the wall, a smile plastered on his face as he walked jovially towards his little sister, Ariana Drakethorne, aged 7, a girl who had already almost reached half his height, falling short by only a little inch from his waist.
As he neared his sister, she put her right hand on her nose and pinched her nose, and from her left hand, she handed him a towel to clean off the sweat,"Ewww!! You stink, big brother". She retreated a few steps back.
Seeing this, Alex jumped and hugged her, rubbing his cheeks on her forehead,"You say you won't eat without me, and you are running away from your lovely big brother." Ariana thrashed Alex with the towel as she tried to run away from her big brother's grip. Only after a lot of beating from the towel did Alex let go of his sister, and he smiled so big that she felt she was seeing a demon laughing.
"I hate you, big brother. I will make sure to tell my parents." She ran away as she threw the towel at Alex's face; her tears ran down her cheeks to the floor, and a cry echoed in the hallway. Alex caught the towel before it reached his face. He put both his hands on his ears to stop the high-pitched sound from reaching his ears and damaging his eardrum.
"Sigh! It seems I pushed too much," he said loudly. Obviously, he hadn't expected this reaction from his little sister. He'd never done something so outrageous before. Well, only occasionally. No, actually, he had done similar things many times before. Still, she rarely cried this hard—just a few times she did. And every time she would cry, he would get plenty of scolding from his parents. She would hide behind them, roll her tongue out, and laugh at him.
- - - -
Alex looked at the mirror, his pale white face smooth as ever, azure eyes giving off a shade of lighter and darker hue of blue as light refracted through them, and long, silky black hair that had a blue tint at its ends, giving it an ethereal look. He was wearing a black tunic and matching leggings. He had tied his hair with a simple ribbon, letting it hang a little.
Alex entered the dining room as the guard opened the door, and he made sure to nod at them to acknowledge their efforts. He had fostered a jovial atmosphere among all the servants, maids, and troops in the palace.
His heart hammered as he squeezed his eyes shut, dreading the burst of his parents' anger while his little sister's devilish smile taunted him.
"Alex, you made your sister cry again; you should set good standards as an elder brother."Alex's father, Shane Drakethorne, spoke. He sat at the head of the honor seat at the center of the table.
His mother, Sera Azurestorm, joined her husband and reprimanded him,"You should apologize to her. We know you didn't hold any bad intentions, but look at her eyes that had turned red due to crying, she took a bath, and was crying on my lap. I barely managed to stop her tears."
Alex listened to them with his head low. He lifted his head when they finally stopped and saw his parents hinting that he should apologize.
They knew he meant well and understood his intentions were not ill. It wasn't like Alex bullied her all the time; often, she was the one who played pranks, like the time she surprised him with a cake, only to throw it in his face and run away, giggling.
Alex sat beside his mother's seat, sliding the chair out from the table to sit on it, facing Ariana. He put his hands over his ears. "I'm sorry, my dear little doll. I didn't know you would cry if I hugged you. Had I known this prior, I wouldn't have hugged you. I'm truly sorry." He winked at his sister.
Seeing Ariana's grumbled face, Alex added,"I would never hug you from now on, since you hate it so much." He put on a sad face as he silently dipped his fingers into the nearby water glass and made some fake tears come out of his eye.
Ariana was not happy with the apology and the act her brother was performing, but before she could throw another tantrum, Sera interjected, "Food's getting cold; we should hurry."
Alex looked at his mother and gave her a thumbs-up. Ariana slammed her spoon down, her devilish smile twisting with mischief as she plotted revenge. Alex met her gaze and felt a cold shudder crawl down his spine.
Sera and Shane laughed out loud at their children's childish acts. They had seen the glint in Ariana's eyes, which meant she was planning something. But they knew well enough that it wouldn't do any harm, as they knew their children cherished each other and would never do anything to harm the other. Their children would rather take the attack on themselves before letting it hit the other.
They had seen other noble houses' siblings fighting among themselves, even plotting against each other, and, in the worst case, killing each other. But they felt happy to see their children stand out from the rest, unlike other siblings from noble houses.
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